The Blog

When or when not to Update

Learn from some of our experience on when or when not to update your church tech devices. We have a few rules that we collectively follow:

1. Research the update

Find out what is in the update. Look at the change logs, read the reviews, see if there are any tricks to the update (downgrade to a version before you can update), etc.

2. Never update a production machine/device

When possible, we always test something out on a non-production device. Obviously you can’t have two of everything, but when you do have another computer, try it out there before installing it on the lynchpin of your tech booth!

3. Always update on Monday – Tuesdays

We don’t have a mid-week service. By scheduling our time to do updates on mondays and tuesdays, we ensure that in a worst-case-scenario we have at least 2-3 days to fix whatever we broke. Sometimes that can mean calling a manufacturer, downgrading a firmware, or even installing a rigged solution to get you by!

4. Communicate the changes

More than likely you’re not the only person this change affects. Make sure you tell your volunteers about the changes you’ve made, give them things to watch out for, let them know of new features they can learn on their own, tell them the mistakes you’ve learned.

5. Keep old installs

Especially for crankier equipment we like to keep older versions of drivers/software/firmware on hand. That way, when we install the new version, if it crashes we can always revert back to the glory days when everything worked right!

What about you? Do you have any tips or tricks on updating? How about a horror story of doing it wrong? Tweet us @churchtechtalk or comment below! We’d love to hear from you!